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Technology Stocks : 3G Cellular -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jim Oravetz who wrote (46)	7/31/2000 3:36:24 AM
From: 2MAR$	Respond to of 63

: DJ Germany 3G Auction: How The Process Works At A Glance By Beth Demain MAINZ, Germany (Dow Jones)--The German Regulatory Office for Telecommunications and Post will start its auction for third-generation mobile licenses at 0800 GMT Monday. Seven companies and consortia will bid for four to six Universal Mobile Telecommunications System licenses. Analysts expect each license will fetch about EUR2 billion-EUR5 billion. The regulator itself recently declined to "take part in speculation" and wouldn't provide estimated revenues from the auction. The U.K.'s 3G auction earlier this year earned the British government GBP22.5 billion for five licenses, up from original estimates for just GBP5 billion. The German government has said it plans to use the proceeds to reduce its debt. Here's how the German auction works: -At 0800 GMT, the German regulator briefs press and participants. Each participant may have two representatives present, and two backups on standby. -After the information session, the two representatives enter a private room, with one regulatory official on hand to assist them and ensure a fair race, the regulator said. -The representatives may phone their headquarters to consult about bids, but they may not see or speak with other auction bidders. No participant will hear information about the others, including if one wins a license and leaves the auction. Every participant takes part in every round of bidding. -All bids are submitted electronically, with special software provided by the regulator. -A round begins with a maximum of 40 minutes for the companies to come up with a bid, then about 20 minutes for the auctioneer to compare them. The auctioneer then names a minimum bid for the next. The regulator plans about eight rounds of bidding a day, with sessions running from 0600 GMT to 1600 GMT, except for Monday, when the process begins later. If bidding takes less than 40 minute, there may be more than eight rounds per day. -The auction will run in two stages. The first will be for 12 blocks of UMTS frequency, to be auctioned all at once. Participants may bid for two or three blocks in the first stage. Only license winners can participate in the auction's second stage, when they can bid for single blocks of frequency. -In the end, the winners get - for their several billion dollars - a document permitting them to use the new 3G technology. The regulator estimates the companies may have the infrastructure up and running by 2002. -The technology will allow the winners to supply customers with various multimedia services, including Internet, e-mail and electronic commerce platforms, via mobile phones. -The auction could run for several weeks, the regulator said. It will post up-to-date information on its Web page. German telecom regulator Website: regtp.de -By Beth Demain, Dow Jones Newswires; 49-69-2972-5500; beth.demain@dowjones.com (END) DOW JONES NEWS 07-31-00 03:34 AM * end of story *